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StyleCrush: Saucye West

This week’s StyleCrush is Bay Area plus-size model Saucye West. A Wear Your Voice fave, West fights for representation of larger plus-size folks (or “super size,” as they’re known within the fat-lib movement) as well as dark-skinned women. The ever-glamorous thirty-something slays every runway she is on and serves face in any campaign she graces.

Wear Your Voice: How did you get into modeling? What or who in your life inspired you to pursue this career?

Saucye West: I started modeling and 2010 for full-figured entertainment. I was a promotional model for nightclub events. Shortly after that, I did my first runway show and the rest is history. As a little girl I always wanted to be a model. One of my favorite movies was Mahogany with Diana Ross. I used to walk around the house and pretend like I was on the runway. I always wanted to be someone who was influential, glamorous and successful.

A photo posted by Saucyé West Plus Model (@saucyewest) on Sep 26, 2016 at 10:21pm PDT

WYV: What people in your life have been your biggest style influences?

SW: My biggest style influences had to have been my grandmother and her sisters. Growing up, they were so glamorous. I used to go over my grandmother’s house and try on her furs, put on her lipstick and play in her clothes. She was the epitome of class and style, so I wanted to grow up and be just like her.

A photo posted by Saucyé West Plus Model (@saucyewest) on Oct 3, 2016 at 3:28pm PDT

WYV: You’re the mother of a young daughter. How do you plan to explain body positivity and fat liberation to her as she grows?

SW: As she grows up I know that she will have a lot of questions. I know that when she goes to school she will be influenced by her peers — and the things that she will see on TV as far as what is beautiful and what is acceptable is concerned. I just have to combat that with the things that I know and bring her into the community that I know and love. By the time she gets of age I hopefully will be doing seminars and speaking to youth about body image and body positivity and fat activism and she will be a very important part of that. She will grow up in a body-positive environment. So she’ll never question what is beautiful and what is acceptable.

A photo posted by Saucyé West Plus Model (@saucyewest) on Aug 6, 2016 at 6:44pm PDT

WYV: What do you wish to see more of in the body-positive movement? In media in general?

SW: I know I probably sound like a broken record. But I just wish to see more visibility and range and body types. We see the same thing all the time — we see the same type of body all the time. I never see anyone who looks like me. So I know there are a lot of women out there that are craving the same thing.

I wish that people would start embracing the word “fat”more. I think that is where the fat-activism world and the fashion world are very separate. And I wish that more of our fat models will start incorporating that word into our descriptive verbiage, so that media will stop using that word in a negative way and begin to use it as what it is, which is an adjective.

A photo posted by Saucyé West Plus Model (@saucyewest) on Oct 2, 2016 at 10:46pm PDT

WYV: Which designers would you like to work with in the future? Why/What aspects of their style match yours?

SW: I would love to work with Jibri, Eloquii and Monif C. Those three brands to me are just stylish and classy and sexy. And they never disappoint. And that’s the kind of style that I would like to reflect: I want to be stylish, classy and sexy and I never want to disappoint! Every year when I see these brands come out, they push the mark; they set the standard. They are just on point; the campaigns are immaculate. And they are just top-tier to me when it comes to fashion. I would love to bring my body type into those brands and just go there, next level. It will be a dream come true.

A photo posted by Saucyé West Plus Model (@saucyewest) on Aug 15, 2016 at 7:37pm PDT

WYV: Who are your top three celebrity style crushes and why?

SW: Off of the top, my boo Alysse Dalessandro! Every time she posts something she looks amazing. She is beautiful, she has an amazing smile and I just love the energy that she brings to fashion.

The second person — I know people are going to hate me but I don’t care — but Khloe Kardashian is like style goals for me. I love being casually fine. That’s what I love to do — I don’t like getting dressed up all the time, but I like to have that casual and sexy and fine look. So you always see me and my leggings and a tank top. Something simple, clean lines. And Khloe does that every time seamlessly like she is the bomb.

And I’m totally crashing on my girl “Dandy” Dandridge. She is just amazing! You’re talking about every time I get on Instagram and she post I’m just like “got dammit she is perfect!” I met her when I was in L.A. working with SKORCH magazine and she did not disappoint. She is absolutely stunning!

A photo posted by Saucyé West Plus Model (@saucyewest) on Aug 30, 2016 at 8:13pm PDT

WYV: Where do you shop? Which brands and designers are your favorites and why?

SW: I do a lot of my shopping at Torrid. They just always seem to hit the mark for me when it comes to my very simplistic style. Like I said before, I wear a lot of leggings and tank tops. So when I go there I get exactly what I want. And if I can’t get it in the store, I can go online when I want to get a staple piece. I also rely on my local designers or indie designers. I’m very passionate about supporting businesses in the plus-size community and showcasing them whenever I can.

A photo posted by Saucyé West Plus Model (@saucyewest) on Sep 23, 2016 at 7:14pm PDT

WYV: How do you wear your voice?

SW: I wear my voice daily by letting women know that it’s OK to not fit into the mold the society has made for women. Being fat or plus-size or whatever you want to call it is a beautiful thing that should be celebrated. I do that every day on social media whether it be a picture that I post or maybe an encouraging word. Answering emails and letting women know it’s OK to love the body that you’re in. I’m making sure that I am doing all I can to change the standard of beauty. You do not have to be an hourglass to be considered beautiful and acceptable in the plus-size community. I’m showing women that you can have a belly, you can have big thighs, you could have big arms and still be beautiful and glamorous and desirable and sexy!

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Laurel Dickman is an intersectional feminist, plus size model, stylist, and fat activist that can also be found via her blog, Exile In Dietville and the music magazine SF Sounds. She grew up in the south between Florida and North Carolina, migrating to the Portland, OR in 2005. All three places inform her perspective of the world around her a great deal. While in Portland, she worked with the Alley 33 Annual Fashion Show, PudgePDX, PDX Fatshion, Plumplandia, and numerous other projects over the near decade that she was there. In August of 2014, she moved to the Bay area with her partner, David and trusty kitty, Dorian Gray. She continues her body positive and intersectional feminism through various forms of activism, fashion, photography projects, and writing mostly in the East Bay. She can be reached at [email protected] and encourages readers to reach out to her to work on future projects together.